OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => Bike Talk => Topic started by: cxs58 on April 15, 2008, 05:37:00 pm
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As we all know....according to law....an importer/wholesaler is not allowed to sell to the public....be careful if you are going to recommend an outlet to the broader VMX community....unfortunately I did just that and got them into serious trouble with a retail outlet....obviously they read this forum.
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cxs58 Don't worry about it too much,there is alot of goons out there ,just do the best ya can.
cheers 8)
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To sell to the puplic at same pice as your dealers in madness. I have a mate who imports re-made parts for British bike from india. He wont sell anything without it going through his dealers.
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I'm not worried about it personally VMX247....I am worried about the outlet that did the favour by selling me the piston....I never intended to get them into trouble.
Might be unethical YSS....but he was trying to get me back on the road because no retail outlet had what I wanted.
I agree with you Quicksilver....he has a network for the distribution of his wares....understandable.
Well all this crap isn't worth the trouble of saving a few bucks....guess I will have to get use to paying exorbatent prices in Oz (which we all complain about)....or purchase from the US.
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Paralell imports will get tem in the end. some times its just easier to buy OS then Dick around here for 2wise the price and half the service somtimes.
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Too true Freaky....
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Freaky speak the truth, ..... meh somtimes he talks shit though. (and spell like a freak)
You just need to weed through it for the good stuff ;)
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seriously, if you don't look OS for alternative suppliers and cost comparisons then you are simply lining someone elses pocket. I don't believe in supporting too many of the local shops and business' when in return they do not care less about the old bikes. I have no problem with sending my cash out of Australia when 99 times out of 100 I get better prices and far better 'friendly' service shopping OS. In October last year I ordered a small part through my local dealer, I waited over 3 weeks for an item that was in stock in SA. They tried every excuse for their pathetic service and at one point even tried blaming the Melbourne Cup for the transport delay. This is not the first time I've been stuffed around by them, I'd waited well over a month for a cylinder to be rebored also, silly me thought I'd give them another go as maybe the previous crap was isolated..needless to say they will never get another cent from me and I will not recommend them to anyone for anything..I would not even buy so much as a spark plug from them now ;)
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Welcome aboard Doc....good to here from you again....yes I was silly enough to patronise a local dealer....who incidently was the one who ripped it up the wholesaler....it was going to cost me $83 more locally than to purchase overseas....silly me thought I gotta support local dealers....like you I will never buy another part from them now....leaves a bad taste in ya mouth....yes it does feel as if we are just lining pockets
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I dont mind paying a bit more "IF"... I get good helpful service for my $$$
Sadly that service and knowledge thing seems to lose something in the translation as soon as you mention the age of your bikes.
At QLD Husqvarna dealership
Me "Id like a pair of fork seals for a "WR430 thanks"
Young feller "That s a Yamaha right?"
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I agree YSS....niche businesses can't afford to piss people off....obviously won't be good for their business
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Same here, i dont mind paying a little extra if i get good freindly sevice.
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I support the locals as much as I can with incidentals, But when it comes to geuine Zook parts (Intrnational ) beats them hands down on price ( up to half ) and service ::)
AT a Click a button it's at my door in 5 days :)
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I not having a go at all local business' . Some are excellent and go above and beyond normal everyday service as in BK Performance and Tyres for Bikes. Incidenlty both are parts/accessory suppliers who don't sell any new bikes at all. Obviously I get my chains and levers and stuff like that locally and that's when I hit either of the shops listed above. I'd love to have a local supplier for the other things but they just can't offer the same price as I find O/S. I don't like to name anyone and I won't but for example, vintage suzuki replica plastics (400C front guard), I can get these shipped over direct from vintage suzuki for $10 less than the the Oz supplier could do it for (and that included a small discount for being vintage related) The part was not on special at VS when I compared prices. Even the postage from down south was more expensive than the shipping from the US :o in relation to this guard I ended up searching a bit more and found a genuine nos item for half the price ;) maybe I have Scottish blood somewhere along the line :P
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NO DOC, you work hard for you money so why shouldnt they. Every seller youll speak to will come back to you with' there are no mates in business' and you pay what its worth.
So they have to understand the same applies as the buyer, you have the right to shop, barter and do what it takes to save a profit.
Thats what the free market is all about wherever that demographically is.
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Absolutely Freaky....I work hard for my money so I want to get the best available price....if this means getting suppliers to compete for my dollars, then so be it....my original gripe of this topic was about a supplier contacting another supplier because of the deal they did to get my business....obviously it upset them.
I agree with you Doc....suppliers are out to get as much profit as they can, thats business....the days of a 'fair price' for parts or for that matter any service has vanished....ask any supplier/contractor and they will tell you they will charge whatever the punter is willing to pay....after all this is a democratic society....therefore we, the punter, have the same rights to minimise the cost of our purchases....
My first priorty when shopping is to Australia....this is followed by the price....obviously, due to everyones differing financial situations, we all have a different mark where loyalty and price cross paths....generally I reckon we all try to do the right thing here, but money doesn't grow on trees so its ok to buy the cheapest as long as the quality is the same or better....
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To right doc I tried to get some honda plastics from O/S would have worked out a saving of over 100 bucks
but the australian supplier has a deal with them and they wont sell to austalia.I dont mind paying a bit more
but I wont get ripped off either.
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If I had a nice bank account I probably wouldn't mind so much but a lot of the time I have absolutely no choice but to find the cheapest alternative as I simply can't afford it any other way. 'If' I only had 1 bike then it wouldn't be so critical but when i have to share funding over 3 or 4 bikes at any given time then I struggle. Thin out my collection I hear..no way!! It is a free country and anyone can sell for any price they see fit, fair enough they want top dollar but no sale = no profit and no return business and no referals to others. It doesn't take much to keep most happy and in this case $10 would have made all the difference and I would have done the deal there and then. That $10 extra was pretty much the profit they were making on the postage alone and took the guard to a price I could not justify for a replica :(
marshallmech, that's not doing anyone any favours in the long run either..I'm lucky I have a mate in the US who will help with this sort of thing if the local postage US is much cheaper. A guard (or 2) should only cost about $10 -$15US to post to Oz so if their local postage is only about 10 than it can still be viable if you buy a couple. They get shipped to the US address for $10 then shipped over here for another 10 or $15..if your saving 20 or more on each guard than it works fine. $10 to me = 3 Spark Plugs or some chain lube, fuel or oil, gasket paper or a few packs of screws. on 2 guards is $20 which is a clutch or front brake cable, a front sprocket, new grips or levers whatever but $10 bucks is still 10 bucks and to me it's not small change ;) be nice if it was but it's not hence i push the budget bikes to the hilt ;D
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The place is in the US doc their price for a fender $65 about $70 oz + post
Oz supplier $120 + post. Like I said BIG difference. Im the same the dollar means
alot to me Wife and 2 young kids and trying to rebuild and race bikes. Bike shops have
overheads and things I agree but about $50 difference is a bit much!
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I can see $ 50.00net savings on a mudguard is convincing . But lots of the savings it is the drop in value of the US$
and no GST when sent by post in small volumes . I can see the similar things happening with our shocks . People can buy YSS now cheaper in US than in Australia . But , there is a but . When our importer in US has to reorder from us , he has to pay in Euro with the adjusted rate and then he has to lift his prices sooner or later. Anything that the US has to import now , will be alot dearer in future . So unless its made in America or it is old stock , the prices will change soon. Enjoy the low prices while they last . Thats globalisation for you.
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point taken Walter . But the Internet has made it a lot easier to SHOP AROUND and compare prices :)
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Interesting. The usual deal is that if a wholesaler is willing to sell direct to the public, then they sell at the retail price. Numerous sources have told me that I'm better off buying YSS from Les or Fernando than directly from Walter, for example.
In the bigger picture:
A lot of Australia wholesalers are trying to make retail type profits.... It shouldn't - and in this day of the interweb, can't - work that way. You can buy PWR radiators from the USA, including freight, significantly cheaper than your local dealer can buy them from PWR (before your dealer makes any profit). Madness.
Mostly, the retailer isn't gouging you. If you find a retailer who makes the effort to look after you, you'd be mad not to support them.
Interestingly, I've found the 'local' country dealers FAR more realistic and accommodating than any of the city dealers.
Two thumbs up for:
Wright Motorcycles, Yass.
Cowra Motorcycles, Cowra.
Bruce's Motorcycle Repairs, Mitchell ACT.
The Yamaha dealer in Goulburn who's name I forget. :-[
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I have to agree with Nathan. It's not the dealers, it's the wholesalers. I once had a wholesaler tell me that 40% mark up for a retailer was good profit. I laughed, try running a shop and paying staff on a 40% profit margin. Then consider every customer wants his 10% discount. Not to mention how much money a retailer needs to tie up in stock for a small return.
This was in contradiction to another wholesaler who was in the rag trade who said that a retailer needs to make 100% markup to stay alive.
Many years back I used to retail a few bike accessories. (I originally got into it so I could get cheaper stuff for myself. This was before the internet was invented.) I was after a new set of pants for myself a couple of years ago. Retail was $280, wholesale was $199. I bought them off the net retail from the US, the same pants with a jersey and gloves combo pack was $120us retail. I also threw in a set of socks and got the lot for $180au landed. And that was when our dollar sucked. So it was cheaper for me to buy retail from OS than it was to go to my wholesaler. So when a retailer starts buying his personal stuff off the web you know there's a problem. I've since dropped that side of my business as it just wasn't viable.
As wholesalers sell more than a retailer their markup can be smaller as they rely on larger turnovers. But this doesn't seem to be the case. I come across a lot of this with fledgling wholesalers who try to wholesale their locally made products for the same price as imported brand name products. Giving themselves a healthy 150% markup and allowing me 50%. Then wonder why they can't get their brand off the ground.